Scott tried to stay with Mechura but Rob is just on another level. The wind was terrible during the race, I am shocked he still managed to go sub 9:00. Sutter had a good day winning the 1600 and finishing top 5 in the 3200 with just over a hour rest between the two events. I thought Hall getting 3rd and Shultz 6th were great performances for those two as well.
Let’s give some love to some great female performances at Hamline Elite.
Schmitz - 1600/3200 double
Lamotte - her first sub-5 (10 sec PR on athletic.net)
Kvant - 3rd all-time in MN in the 400 (as a 10th grader!)
Chaney, Drevlow, and Lansing all in the 2:12s in the 800
Osanai - 2nd in the 3200 and first 3A finisher. Lots of competition close behind though (Hibbs, Tri, Hoffman, Ousdigian) 15 sec PR for Tri if athletic.net is correct.
I'd be confident to put the house on Mechura winning the 3200, but not at all in the 1600. We saw last year in the 1600 how hard it is to complete that double with Breker. If Mechura plays his cards right, maybe. But the chances someone with more top end speed (Sutter?) to take it all like Stachewicz did last year are very high.
For Breker the longer the better and Mechura seems similar. I give Mechura a decent shot at winning the 1600, doesn't seem like we have any "pure" miles this season in AAA outside of possibly Sanvick, and he placed 3rd on Friday.
Sutter did close really well at Hamline and I would say he would have to be the favorite right now with Mechura. If I were a betting man though I would pick Mechura. Very fast overall, and I'm sure his training will be focused on getting the double at state. He has the endurance, now needs the speed. Will be a very exciting state meet coming up. If not tactical the winner should be under 4:10
2 MN high school track runners in Forest Lake airlifted to a hospital after being hit by car.
From reading the runners were in a very obvious, clearly doubly marked crosswalk. Driver was 84. Hope they make it through. Sad tragedy regardless.
I'm in Southeast MN and almost daily deal with drivers who don't care about the rules of the road and are usually worse in the most marked crossings (triple marked in my town with stripes, signage, and lights to flash when you press button). I used to flick them off, but twice I've had people turn around and drive after and yell at me. Some runners I know had a gun flashed at them after they flicked someone off. A pedestrian was hit in a double marked crosswalk in my town 6 weeks ago.
Be safe out there folks. I feel safer running backwoods Wisconsin where all the oncoming traffic moves way out of the way and waves than on pedestrian paths/sidewalks in Minnesota.
Sutter positioning himself as the 1600m favorite for state. Pretty safe to say he or Mechura will win. Will be interesting to follow. Sutter doubles back and wins the 800 in 1:57.
Sutter positioning himself as the 1600m favorite for state. Pretty safe to say he or Mechura will win. Will be interesting to follow. Sutter doubles back and wins the 800 in 1:57.
Completely agree! He has put up some great times, and beating Scott by 5 seconds is impressive. Plus the fact he doubled yesterday and at Hamline last Friday (1600 and 3200) show how strong of a runner he has become. It will be fun watching him and Scott run for the Gophers.